Camera Workers, 1858-1950


The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

First Name Last Name
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Timms, Philip Thomas

Timms, Philip Thomas[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19]

Male 1874 - 1973  (98 years)


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  • Name Timms, Philip Thomas
    Birth 16 Sep 1874  Toronto, ON Find all individuals with events at this location  [20] 
    Gender Male
    Home Address/Year 1899  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    234 Fifth Ave.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1907  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    same as home address 
    Address:
    944 Granville St.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1899-ca. 1912  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Initially worked for S.J. Thompson 
    Death 8 Aug 1973  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Association Thompson, Stephen Joseph (Relationship: Employee)
    Association Timms, Arthur Herbert (Relationship: Brother)
    Association Timms, George Frederick (Relationship: Photographer)
    Association Timms, George Frederick (Relationship: Brother)
    Association Timms, George Edward (Relationship: Nephew)
    Person ID I42  Camera Workers | T, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 26 Jan 2026

  • Photos
    P.T. Timms portrait, attributed to P.T. Timms, 1933.    		P.T. Timms portrait, attributed to P.T. Timms, 1933.
    Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 677-639.
    P.T. Timms in the doorway of his photography business, 501 West Georgia St., ca. 1910.    		P.T. Timms in the doorway of his photography business, 501 West Georgia St., ca. 1910.
    Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 677-576.
    P.T. Timms, 500 block Granville St., before 1910.    		P.T. Timms, 500 block Granville St., before 1910.
    The Bailey Brothers retail store, visible at 540 Granville St., was taken over by 1910 by the Granville Stationery Company, Limited. Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 677-659.
    P.T. Timms and the Vancouver Natural History Society, 1930s.    		P.T. Timms and the Vancouver Natural History Society, 1930s.
    He is standing with his back to another photographer's camera arranging his own camera for a photograph. Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library, accession number 18889.
    P.T. Timms, ceremonial arch, Vancouver, 20 Sep 1901.    		P.T. Timms, ceremonial arch, Vancouver, 20 Sep 1901.
    In this photograph which depicts an arch created for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, Timms has also captured an individual examining a camera or preparing it for his own photograph. Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library, accession number 8280.
    P.T. Timms postcard, 191-?-192-?    		P.T. Timms postcard, 191-?-192-?
    The photograph depicts a large group of people along the beach at English Bay. An unidentified male photographer stands at the right edge with his view camera on a tripod. The postcard was published by the Thomson Stationery Co., Limited, Vancouver, BC. Courtesy of SFU Digitized Collections, MSC130-15612-01.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Timms moved to Vancouver at the age of 24 in 1898 from Toronto and started in business as a picture framer. In an oral history interview late in life, Timms said he worked with S.J. Thompson. He achieved fame during the Edwardian era as a photographer of Vancouver street scenes. He was listed as a photographer in the 1899 Henderson BC directory, but no business address is given.
      Over the first half of the 20th century Timms became one of the most prolific and respected Vancouver photographers. He was a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (RPS).
    • FORMATS: Postcards; stereographs.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: Postcard front may be numbered and titled.

  • Sources 
    1. [S134] COLLECTION: BVA (Reliability: 3).
      Glass negatives

    2. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA (Reliability: 3).
      Prints

    3. [S1226] SFU Digitized Collections, Philip Francis Postcard Collection (Web site), (Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University Library).

    4. [S947] Open Collections (UBC Library and Archives) (Web site).
      Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs

    5. [S666] BVIPA archival records.
      Oral history interview by I. Orchard, TAPE 1337:1

    6. [S666] BVIPA archival records.
      Reference Room VF

    7. [S39] HEN99, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1899), 763.
      Vancouver: "Timms, Philip T., photo, h 234 5th ave."

    8. [S40] Williams, R.T., comp., WIL99, (Victoria, B.C.: Province Publishing Co., 1899), 685.
      Vancouver: "Timms, T. P., picture framer, 5th ave. E., Mt. Pleasant."

    9. [S782] HEN03, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1903), 825.
      Vancouver: Timms, Philip T., photographer 623 Granville, h 3014 Westminster ave.

    10. [S783] HEN04, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1904), 882.
      Vancouver: Timms, Philip T., photographer, h 133 Robson

    11. [S785] HEN05, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1905), 552.
      Vancouver: Timms, Philip T., photographer, 901 Georgia, h 133 Robson

    12. [S787] HENVAN06, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1906), 613.
      Vancouver: Timms, Philip T., photographer, 901 Georgia, h 133 Robson

    13. [S788] HENVAN07, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1907), 788.
      Vancouver: Timms, Philip T., photographer, 944 Granville, lvs same

    14. [S698] HENVAN10, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1910), 1179.
      Vancouver: Timms Philip T photogr 501 Georgia h 1073 Howe

    15. [S318] Notes by Elizabeth O'Kiely; photographs by Philip T. Timms, O'Kiely (1971), (Vancouver: Vancouver Museums and Planetarium Association, 1971).

    16. [S561] Fred Thirkell and Bob Scullion, Thirkell and Scullion (2006), (Surrey, B.C.: Heritage House Publishing, 2006).

    17. [S353] Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, Vancouver Public Library, Golden Timms (Web site), (Vancouver: Vancouver Public Library) (Reliability: 2).

    18. [S352] Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, Vancouver Public Library, BC Timms (Web site), (Vancouver: Vancouver Public Library) (Reliability: 2).

    19. [S1111] Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, This Vancouver: Philip Timms Collection (Web site), (Vancouver: Vancouver Public Library).

    20. [S647] Census of Canada 1901.
      Province of BC, District no. 1 Burrard, Sub-district no. D, sub-division no. 27 in Vancouver City, p. 2, line 33